Abstract
Two different energy-momentum tensors have been proposed to describe the electromagnetic field inside matter. Abraham suggested a symmetric tensor while Minkowski's tensor is nonsymmetric. With the aid of a thought experiment it is shown here that only the symmetric tensor satisfies the momentum conservation and center-of-mass theorems simultaneously.
- Received 15 December 1952
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.91.408
©1953 American Physical Society